_Salvia officinalis_ and _S. grandiflora_. The first is the common garden sage, a native of southern Europe, and has been naturalized for many years in this country as a garden plant. It is a perennial shrub, seldom more than two feet high and sometimes treated as an annual. The plant has a pubescent four-sided stem with erect branches, hoary with down, and leafy at the base, those bearing flowers being about a foot or a foot and a half long. The flowers are in racemes of blue variegated with purple (rarely red), arranged in spiked whorls. The flowers have but two perfect stamens, the filaments of which bear at their summit a cross thread. A much-elongated connective is fastened by a point and has one cell of the anther at the upper end and the other, but imperfect, cell at the other end. The seeds of many species, when steeped in water, become covered with a mucilaginous slime, like that of quince seeds. The leaves are ovate, oblong, lanceolate, finely notched, are curiously wrinkled or rough, hairy or tomentose, and of a whitish-green color. The leaves and tops are gathered and dried during the flowering seasons, which is in June and July. Sage is slightly tonic with a peculiar, strong, astringent, aromatic, camphorous odor, and a sharp, warm, slightly bitter taste. These properties are owing to its volatile oil (sage oil), which may be obtained by distilling the plant with water infusion, but more especially in alcohol. Formerly it had a high reputation as a sudorific and as an antiseptic, and was so esteemed by the ancients, especially by the Chinese, but at present, though officinal, it is little used as a remedy except in domestic practice, and it has no place in the pharmacopœia. But the infusion is much valued in cases of gastric debility as a gargle, checking flatulency with speed and certainty. It is a good astringent and nerve tonic as well as a good remedy for use in cases of rheumatism. But its great use is as a condiment in flavoring dress, sausage, cheese, etc. Sage grows best in dry soil and is found growing on sunny mountain slopes and rocks. It has long been in general cultivation in gardens, and it is easily raised from the seed or from cuttings or divisions of the root. Roots should be planted about six inches apart. Sage brush (_Carteunissia hidenlata_) is found on Western table lands. The apple-bearing sage (_S. pomifera_) is a native of Southern Europe and is remarkable for its reddish or purple bracts and large gall nuts growing on the branches as on the leaves of the oak. These are known as sage apples. They have an agreeable aromatic taste and are edible. Both these species are used to adulterate. [Illustration: MARJORAM 1 Leaf and flower stem 2 Bract of flower 3, 4 Different views of flower 5 Stamens 6 Seed]